Friday, September 01, 2006

Josephine Baker, Muse




Okay, a friend of mine asked me to post more pictures of Ms. Baker and I am happy to comply.
She was the model for many posters and ads of the period. Her black helmet hair and her rubber limbs inspired zillions of wonderful art deco images. For more history and images go here:

They are currently having a show of rare photographs of Ms. Baker at the

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Here's another good site for photos of Ziegfeld Follies. There you will find Josephine Baker and Louise Brooks, two of my favorite muses. (Thanks to www.meathaus.com)



Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Magic of the Trees

Stairs in the woods
Path in Hendricks Park
Whew! I finally finished my number 8 painting for the Blab Show. Now it's on to other things like cleaning up the studio, taking my own slides of the paintings and also having them photographed by a professional, framing them, packing them, doing paperwork and shipping them. Plus, I'm supposed to paint for another show that opens the same day, so I'm debating about that and gathering strength.

It's a nice overcast day here in Oregon. It feels like fall which is a great change from the heatwave we had over the weekend. I hope to take my daily hike up the butte near my house. It's a wonderful 20 minute hike- with woods full of douglas fir trees and a secret stairway climbing straight up through the trees. There is a park called Hendricks Park at the top and there are many rhodedendron trees up there.
My 2 newest paintings for the Blab art show have a little bit of this magic of the trees. I hear that the Blab show website is just about ready and soon you all will be able to view the paintings online at blab show .

Monday, August 28, 2006

The Black Venus

American entertainer Josephine Baker was the toast of Paris in the 1920's. She was so comfy on stage with her clothes off, wearing only a few bananas to shake and shimmy in. I found inspiration in the hundreds of half-naked photos and illustrations of her from that period. Here's a bio on her interesting life.

The Loves of Zero

A still from the Robert Florey 1928 short film, "The Loves of Zero".
This looks like hokum to me. Avant-guard, poetic and full of humor.
Ah...the 1920's...what a great period of art, music and theater.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Juxtapoz Blabbing

I just got my copy of the new September issue of Juxtapoz magazine yesterday. There it was- on the first page- the beautiful ad (featuring an image by Lou Brooks) for the Blab Show with my name on it. Other artists in the show: Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Lou Brooks, Greg Clarke, Shag, Brian Cronin, Drew Friedman. Ryan Heshka, Walter Minus, John Pound, Jonathon Rosen, Fred Stonehouse, Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson, plus more.
This is a show that should not be missed! Presented by Monte Beauchamp at CoproNason Gallery in Santa Monica, CA -opening Sept. 23, 2006. Look for the paintings to go up on the Blab Show website very soon:
I will have 8 paintings in the show and I can hardly wait to show everyone. This should be such a fun event. Marshall Sponder at artNYC told me that he was looking forward to reviewing the show.



Friday, August 25, 2006

Art of the Lodge Halls


I was looking up visionary artist Joe Coleman who is having a show right now in NYC and I came across the Dilettante Press website which features some very interesting books. It also has a gallery link to a masonic art show:

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Second Blab Show

"Blab! 17", cover by Jonathon Rosen copyright 2006
This is the what the upcoming isssue of "Blab! 17" will look like. You can purchase a copy through Amazon, Fantagraphics or various other websites. My "Banana Eater" painting from the first Blab art show will finally be published as a spread.
Here is the link to the second Blab Art Show:
I will have 8 pieces available, 6 of them are brand new monkey love series paintings in smaller, more affordable sizes. The other two paintings are my new Blues Gals. I am very excited about this show and I will be going down to Santa Monica for the opening.